Reading reflections and project update for 1.14.13

Reading Reflections for 1.14.13

Lovitts article:

I related to the Lovitts’ article but in a backwards sort of way.  For the last 10 years, I have run various projects for my school district.  I analyzed student outcome data regularly and designed programs and professional development sessions for teachers based on what I noticed in the data and in my observations of teachers as they worked with students.   My job required me to work very independently and gave me a great deal of autonomy. I decided how my days were spent, how I reported progress to my superiors, and how projects were prioritized.   In order to come to UTK full time and take advantage of an associate ship and free tuition, I left my position and am doing only contract work with my former school district.  I continue to have a great deal of autonomy in my part-time work life, but not having the same kind of independence and autonomy at UTK has been an adjustment.  I am not used to living by an “assignment” checklist and compartmentalizing my projects into such limited time frames.    I have definitely enjoyed my first semester, and learned a great deal, but the type of work is so different and I have struggled to embody the role of “student” which came so easily to me 20 years ago!   I am wondering if I will be able to handle the “independent” aspect of the dissertation phase because I do have experience working independently and being self-motivated.  I do hope so.

This article also made me think about how we “do education” with elementary students.   In my experience, most instruction is about filling the ‘empty vessels’ and less about helping to develop independent, self-motivated, and reflective students.  Might more work around these types of goals change the types of workers and scholars those students become?  And, ‘creativity’ is not valued in education.  I think some of that is changing with the emphasis on the common core standards and constructed response in mathematics, but what I continue to see in classrooms are students in rows, working on the same kinds of assignments day after day, regardless of who they are, or what their strengths and interests are.  Getting the ‘right’ answer is what is honored, not coming up with a new idea, taking a different perspective, or working toward solving a complex problem.

Taking the GRE was a really frustrating experience for me.  I did well on it, but I resented having to jump through the hoop to get back into school.  My 14 year old step son said “If you haven’t done that kind of math in 20 years, why do you have to do it now?” as he watched me work practice problems over and over before taking the test.   It was just a task to survive, not something that had any real meaning for me.  Page 144 validated my frustrations with the statement “The GRE and the Miller Analogies are not good predictors of success in graduate school”.  If they aren’t predictive, then why on earth are they so heavily weighted in the application process? 

I found the Figure on p. 150 to be a useful way to think about the factors that contribute to degree completion and creativity.  The summary paragraph and the potential benefits of better alignment were also interesting.  I would like to see more people from diverse backgrounds racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically have access to higher educational opportunities.

Chapters 1-4 in The Qualitative Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty by Piantanida and Garman

This is only my second semester back at school, so I have some time before I begin working on my dissertation.  I am grateful to have this text to be reading and thinking about as I am in the early stages of dissertation preparation.   It has caused me to ponder issues I haven’t before (guess that is the point…).

As I read these chapters, I connected much of what I read to my past experiences as a teacher and facilitator of professional development session for teachers.  On page 3, Holt’s comments about “learning” and “doing” resonated.  As a classroom teacher, my students worked in reading and writing workshop settings where they spent extended time actually engaged in reading and writing projects.  More than one administrator needed explanation and justification for why the students were “just reading or writing” instead of completing skill and drill worksheets related to direct instruction lessons.  As a Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, I worked with teachers as they were engaged in teaching.  They were “doing” and “learning” simultaneously in an “apprenticeship” kind of model.    I think this is how people learn best – actively engaged in the doing.  The sentence on p. 4 sums it up perfectly, “Successful acclimation to such a culture often engenders a stance of performing, doing, solving, and acting.”  To learn to be a reader, writer, teacher, or researcher…an individual has to be engaged in the “doing” of those activities.

On page 7, the authors talk about the importance of knowing the qualitative research within one’s particular field.  I am hoping to become more knowledgeable about the research that has been done related to teacher professional development as I take this course.   Even if my dissertation doesn’t end up being related to teacher professional development, I feel it will help me in my future positions, which I imagine will involve teacher professional development.  

The concepts of encapsulation and deliberation were unfamiliar to me as presented by the authors, Piantanida and Garman.  But, I can see my experiences through these concepts.  Last semester, I took a class that involved lots of meandering discussion.  To me, it seemed like endless pontification and the loudest voices were heard most often.  The talk rarely related to “practice” of any sort.   I respect the need for “deliberation”, but this example that comes to mind for me seemed rather extreme and lacked meaning.   On the flip side, I have been in meetings at work where there was little time given to “deliberation” - decisions were made and programs were implemented or abolished with little consideration of research and information about what truly works.  There is a definite need for careful thought, investigation, and inquiry, and I believe it should be connected to purposeful action.   A perfect example of this to me is Marie Clay’s work in emergent literacy that began in the late 1960s.  Her dissertation question was “How early can we see literacy learning in young children going astray?”  She deliberated by doing more than a hundred observations of kindergarten students as they engaged in literacy activities.  She determined that after a year of formal instruction, specific students could be identified as at-risk for literacy failure.  As a result, she designed an intervention, Reading Recovery that helps these identified students get back on track with their learning.  Her study was deliberate and thoughtful but it resulted in a practical, meaningful “action”.  Her theory of literacy learning also relates to comments on page 17…”ideas are treated as momentary conclusions that are always subject to revision and extension.”  Though she established a theory of literacy learning, she encouraged practitioners to remain “tentative and flexible” as they worked with individual students.

On page 19, the authors talk about the necessity of putting tentative thoughts “out there”.  I agree that it is essential to learning that learners take risks and wrestle with ideas as they are in formation.  I wonder if educational institutions set up structures so that those kinds of risk taking conversations can take place and are acceptable.  The whole notion of “grades” seems to be in contrast to the notion of risk taking.  I like the idea of think pieces – the concept seems to encourage tentativeness and discovery.   I suppose these reflective entries are similar to think pieces.

I am both excited by and intimidated by the prospect of writing a dissertation.  Because I am early in the process of pursuing my PhD, I have so many ideas of what I might like to focus on.  Struggling students, classroom practice, professional development for teachers, reading, writing, literacy are all important topics to me.  I am interested in what students say, what teachers say to students, and how teachers and students interact in classrooms.  I am worried about the emphasis on testing in our culture.  I am interested in the impact of all these sweeping reforms in education related to teacher performance as measured by student outcomes on a standardized measure.  All of these interests could lead me in a million directions, and I obsess over which topic to pursue!  I have to trust that a meaningful and manageable topic will present itself.  Right now, I am learning to trust the process.  I suppose I am experiencing “predisseration anxiety” as described on page 30.   Love the quote on page 33 “support for prolonged wallowing in anxiety is counterproductive.”

I can see myself in the Human Dilemma Puddle – “a desire to fix something, take corrective action, or improve a situation”.   I think teachers do not have the support and professional development opportunities they need.  They are charged with a huge responsibility in educating students and don’t have the necessary skills to do the job.  This is something I think needs to be improved.  I also believe that at-risk and struggling students do not have quality educational opportunities.  They are labeled and dumped into programs that are ineffective, inefficient, and are anything but “special”.   I do become angered by some of what I see in classrooms and believe students are entitled to more quality experiences.

I also see myself in the Practitioner Intervention Puddle – “students are well-regarded practitioners who have an intuitive sense of what works.  They approach the dissertation with a sincere and heartfelt desire to explain their practice for the benefit of others.”   My experiences within the Reading Recovery community has allowed me to see at-risk students receiving meaningful educational opportunities where they make gains and move from being “at-risk” to not “at-risk”.  Through this intervention, I have also seen teachers engaged in meaningful professional development opportunities.    Last semester, I did observations of and interviews with Reading Recovery teacher leaders as they participated in professional development sessions.  When asked to compare their PD experiences in RR with other PD experiences they had in their school districts, there was a clear difference.  The RRTLs talked about how practical and purposeful their PD was within the RR setting and what a “waste of time” the other PD was.  I believe all teachers should be involved in meaningful and useful professional development.  I wonder what can be learned from RR PD that could be applicable to all teachers.   

I suppose I have both “outrage” and “zeal” as I approach a dissertation topic…. I still live in the land of “nebulous ideas” as I am thinking about a specific study I might engage in.

Progress report on individual project

I am still trying to decide upon the scope of my project at this point.  I have communicated with the professor I am working with about this course and the various requirements.  I have asked her to provide some direction regarding the method/methodologies she intends to use for her study so that I may begin my investigation for that portion of my project.  Because she is focusing on professional development with teachers in an elementary school, I know I can begin to dive into the studies that have been done in that area.  I am currently reading Systems for Change in Literacy Education by Lyons and Pinnell.  I am also reading Professional Learning in the Learning Profession: A Status Report on Teacher Development in the U.S. and Abroad.  I believe both will be beneficial reads in their own right, and also point me in the direction of other relevant resources.  I am in the beginning stages of working on the proposal.  I am considering the ‘deliverables’ that would be most appropriate for this project.  At this point, I am thinking that an in process data set or in process data analysis would be most appropriate.  I am also wondering about a draft of a potential comps question.  I hope to speak to my chair about this as a possibility